Trump asks Supreme Court to allow him to keep his tax returns secret

President Donald Trump covers his face from television lights as he walks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, before leaving for New York on November 2, 2019.

Yuri Gripas | Reuters

Presidential attorneys Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow him to keep his tax returns secret, creating a case that can determine whether a president has criminal immunity while in office.

The case marks the first time that the president's personal financial dealings have paved the way for the nation's supreme court.

If the jurors agree to consider the case, it will pave the way for a leading dispute over the achievement of presidential immunity in the mid-2020s presidential campaign and historic battle for impeachment in Congress.

The court may also refuse to hear the case, in practice requiring disclosure of its returns.

The President's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulov, confirmed that the filing was made in a text message.

A federal court of appeals ruled earlier this month that the president's accounting firm must file eight years from the president's corporate and personal tax returns with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in response to a summons.

a petition to the US Supreme Court seeking to overturn a Second Circuit decision on a subpoena issued by the New York District Attorney, "Sekulov wrote." The Second Circuit's decision is wrong and must be reversed. "

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., said the investigation addresses potential violations of state law, although no defendants were publicly named.

Vance also issued a summons to the President's business, the Trump Organization. searching for "documents and to whom "fraudulent cash payments made by former fixer President Michael Cohen to two women in the run-up to the 201

6 election.

Cohen pleaded guilty to campaigning to finance payment related crimes and The Trump Organization handed over some documents to prosecutors in New York but did not issue Trump's personal tax records.

The president's legal team expressed a broad view of presidential immunity in the case. They say Trump is immune from criminal investigations while on duty.

In his petition, Sekulov asks the court to address this question: "Does this summons violate Article II and the rule of law of the United States Constitution?" [19659002] , the message said. "It requires the President's archives, lists it as a target, and was issued as part of a court hearing that seeks to determine whether the president has committed a state crime."

instead, it is more closely held that any immunity granted to the President does not restrict the summoning of a third party. Trump's lawyers immediately vowed to bring the case to the Supreme Court, saying the issue raised "goes to the heart of our Republic."

Sekulov writes in the petition that the fact that the petition was issued to a third party "does not change the calculation. "

Trump is the first president in more than 40 years to voluntarily disclose his tax returns.

A separate lawsuit is pending in Washington for the president's tax filings, filed by Congressional Democrats. Colombia ruled Wednesday it would leave a decision earlier that required Trump's accounting firm, Mazars, to submit his financial records to the House Oversight Committee.

The president's attorneys vowed to file this case in the Supreme Court as well. Supreme Court of Justice

vet members include two Trump appointees – Justix Neil Gorschuh and Brett Cavanaugh.There is a 5-4 conservative majority.The court term ends in June.

If the House of Democratic leaders votes to approve impeachment members, it seems likely. Chief Justice John Roberts will chair the Senate presidential trial, which may come early next year.